Don Camillo in Soviet Russia

My mother having given us the ultimatum that she cannot take care of our books anymore is now watching  hawk-eyed as we are slowly emptying all the accumulated books.  They have truly accumulated- right from 1950s when my father used to purchase Imprint magazine (now defunct) to 70s when we purchased Reader's digest and sundry other books from pavement stalls and book fairs.  It has taken my brother and I numerous trips to slowly trawl through the books, weed out what we don't want, and transport the remaining to our places. There are books that were dumped by our cousins-which as I told one of them-cannot be thrown out because of the memories associated with them. Then there are books that were dumped by other people- again  cannot be thrown out for sundry reasons unless they are truly unwanted.  And then there are books like Mother by Maxim Gorky-unreadable but we share memories of it and are undecided what to do with it.  (Un)Fortunately, we got rid of the Russian lessons that my father purchased in a fit of enthusiasm- he was going to learn Russian and Russian Center was offering them for pittance.  The time never came and my father reluctantly decided that he will never learn Russian.
Anyway, I was going through Imprint magazines printed in 1950s and 60s, deciding which ones to throw away.  And there it was-Don Camillo in Soviet Russia.
Don Camillo was the character created by Giovannino Guareschi. I do not remember where I found the first books of Don Camillo but I truly loved Don Camillo and Peppone and the voice of Christ as he dispenses advice to the hot-headed Don Camillo.  Don Camillo is a Catholic priest and Peppone is the Communist party leader in a village on the banks of River Po. Both are at odds with each other though Peppone does get his children baptized and attends the Church (just so that he can keep track of what Don Camillo preaches). 
In this gem of a book, Peppone and his party members are going for a visit to Soviet Russia.  Don Camillo gets himself included in the trip much to Peppone's consentration (but there is nothing much he can do about it other than scream blackmail).  And so begins a hilarious journey where Don Camillo manages to solemnize marriage and baptize children, create havoc amongst the party members and promote a love match. 
The Don Camillo books are available in Amazon but tad bit expensive. For the time being, I am keeping the old editions of Imprint magazine.

How pavements are used and power cuts

For the past month or so, I have noticed that the pavement on the opposite side of the road to Vasant Kunj Police Station was blocked by police barricades.  I have been forced to walk on the road facing the incoming traffic. Finally,  yesterday when as I returned back after purchasing vegetables I was pushed towards the pavement edge by the motorists on the road I snapped. I crossed the road and marched into the police station. Few men in police uniform were standing. As I hesitated wondering where I should go and complain they asked me what I wanted. I explained about the barricades.
"How do you know it is ours?"demanded one policeman.
"Delhi Police is written in bold letters."
"But how do you know it is ours?  Just because Delhi police is written does not mean that it is ours."
""Don't you want to know whose it is."
"Ah!  Say that you want us to find out whose it is. You just cannot assume it is ours just because..."
"You can give a written complaint," said another policeman. "Go in there," he pointed to the building up ahead.
 So I went there. As I entered, I could see rooms on either side. On the left side, it was crowded. So I entered the room in the right. Once again I explained the issue to the two policemen seated in the room.
"It is not our jurisdiction," said one finally. "It is the jurisdiction of that police chowki," and he waved towards the crowded room on the other side.
So I went there and once again repeated my statement. That the barricades were blocking the pavement and that it was impossible to walk.
"It is like this," explained the policeman on duty. "We have received the barricades and there was no place to store. So we have stored it on the pavement outside. We have to distribute it to other police station that come under this district."
"So how long will that take?"
"I will inform the officer-in-charge tomorrow.  Your point is well-taken but you have to understand our limitations."
So the pavement continues to be cluttered with barricades till the police (Please note that the motto of Delhi Police is With You Always) decide when to remove it. But then the pavements in India have wide variety of uses.  Everyone uses it except the pedestrian who prudently walks on the road amidst the traffic, dodging the motorists.
Meantime, the JNU administration has decided that the power usage has surged because of the heat. They have, therefore, decided to administer load shedding/power cuts.  The administration officials are important because they run the university. Therefore, they have no power cuts. The air-conditioners run constantly keeping them cool.  The faculty and the schools are the expendable parts. Therefore, the power cuts have been administered to us. The air-conditioners are not working raising the temperature of the room shutting down our eqiupments. Of course there was no need to inform us. It was only today when we got little suspicious that we figured out the issue. So here is to Merry Summer!

National Institutional Ranking Framework- How Universities measure up

The government ranking list is out. For whatever it is worth, IISc is on the top and JNU is on the third spot.  Hyderabad Central University is fourth in the list.  University of Delhi from where I did my undergraduation is 6th while M.S. University is 76th.  The entire list can be accessed at MHRD website.
The government has promised to fund 10 government institutions so that they can become world-class (again whatever that means).  I hope we do get the funds now that we are on the top.